The present invention relates to a coin processing apparatus, comprising an opening for receiving a plurality of coins of different types, a coin sensor adapted to determine a respective type of individual coins among the plurality of coins, a controller operatively coupled to the coin sensor, and a coin separator operatively coupled to the controller and capable of separating the individual coins from the plurality of coins under control from the controller. More specifically, the invention is directed at a coin packaging device in such a coin processing apparatus. The invention also relates to a coin processing method.
Coin packaging devices for performing quick and reliable packaging of coins are previously known. The packaging devices commonly perform packaging of the coins in bags in which a predetermined number of coins are filled. The devices that today exist on the market for packaging coins in paper or plastic bags are big and bulky.
Moreover, it is known to stack coins into piles, which are wrapped by a piece of paper or placed in a paper cylinder, which is sealed at its ends so as to form a paper tube containing a pile of coins.
GB-A-1 364 564 discloses an apparatus for forming bags of heat sealable packaging material, which then are filled with coins. The heat sealable packaging material is supplied as at least one web. The apparatus comprises means for forming a loop of the web or webs and a guide housing adapted to enclose the web or webs, fed thereto for shaping the web or webs into a tube. The apparatus further comprises swingers mounted on either sides of the web or webs of packaging material and formed in the guide housing, and supporting heat sealing jaws for transverse sealing of portions of the web or webs projecting from the guide housing at the lower end thereof.
WO 99/33030 discloses a coin counting and sorting device with active coin handling means. While coins in paper tubes are easy to handle and transport, paper tubes are less desirable for other reasons. For instance, paper as a packaging material is relatively expensive. Moreover, the fact that the coins are stacked in piles requires a complicated mechanical coin packaging device, which additionally generally suffers from a low operating speed. The apparatus in GB-A-1 364 564 complicates the storage of coin bags because when each coin bag is finally sealed, it is cut from the other bags and is delivered into another device. GB-A-1 364 564 does not contain any details of how such a coin packaging device may be incorporated in for example a self-service coin counting and/or sorting machine.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a coin processing apparatus for sorting and/or counting coins with a subsequent packaging of the coins in plastic bags formed in an interconnected sequence with each other in a band, wherein the plastic bags filled with coins may be stored as the band or as separate plastic bags.
Additionally, it is an object of the invention to provide a high level of operational reliability and accuracy. Moreover, the invention aims at providing a coin processing apparatus that facilitates the subsequent handling of the bags filled with coins for human users.
The object is achieved by a coin processing apparatus having an opening for receiving a plurality of coins of different types. The apparatus further has a coin sensor adapted to determine a respective type of individual coins among the plurality of coins, a controller operatively coupled to the coin sensor, and a coin separator operatively coupled to the controller and capable of separating the individual coins from the plurality of coins under control from the controller. Moreover, the apparatus comprises a coin packaging device having: a coin inlet, a supply of packaging material, and a packaging mechanism capable of producing a plurality of coin bags from the supply. The coin inlet is coupled to the coin separator so as to receive the individual coins therefrom, the packaging mechanism is adapted to enclose the individual coins in any of the coin bags, and the controller is adapted to control the packaging mechanism according to a specified packaging scheme, so that at least two different coin types are packaged in the coin bags in a continuous operation.
Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the forthcoming detailed disclosure, from the drawings as well as from the appended patent claims.